News Investigation

Dad of Sextortion Victim Backs New Australian Social Media Laws

Nov 2024 🇦🇺 that's life! (Are Media)

Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.

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In this first-person feature for the Australian magazine that's life!, as told to senior writer Lisa Brookman, Wayne Holdsworth recounts his son Mac's sextortion scam on Instagram in 2022, Mac's death by suicide in October 2023, and his own decision to found the charity SmackTalk. Holdsworth says he has spoken to more than 9,000 people through school and community presentations and that SmackTalk's Unplug24 campaign drew more than 130,000 participants to a 24-hour break from social media. The piece situates his advocacy against Australia's newly passed law restricting social media access for children under 16, which Holdsworth welcomes as a protective step he believes could have changed his son's outcome. TechKids Foundation includes this profile as a detailed, dated first-person account of a bereaved parent's advocacy trajectory.

9,000+ people reached

Number of people Holdsworth said he had personally addressed through SmackTalk presentations, as stated in this Nov. 2024 profile.

130,000+ Unplug24 participants

Participation Holdsworth reported for SmackTalk's October 2024 Unplug24 24-hour social-media break, as stated in this profile.

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CITATION

Brookman, Lisa. "Dad of Sextortion Victim Backs New Australian Social Media Laws." that's life!, Nov. 29, 2024. https://www.thatslife.com.au/news/wayne-holdsworth-social-media-suicide-stole-my-son-smacktalk-unplug24/

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